Yesterday during the National League Championship Series on TBS, a commercial aired that was the typical fare of “baseball meets and corporate America.” There were families, random community baseball games and minivans, the usual scene you can see going through any park in suburban America. Then Miguel Cabrera popped and added some star power, and the usual selling points are all met.
Apparently, Chrysler saw fit to toss a change-up when everybody was looking fastball. Solid technique, if this was just about the game, but this was far more than that. It starts off easy enough with, “No matter where we come from or when we begin, the road to greatness is the same for everyone …” which is a good, clean, American car manufacturer style of delivery.
However, then the advertisement takes a turn from creating genuine good American vibes and turns way left into what takes an election-year level punch to it. Soon it is clear that the message is far from just the standard motivational chatter that comes across; rather, it is about to go zero-to-60 towards Agendaville.
Out of nowhere, the scenes stop being about hard work when it cuts to a man in a crowd holding up an oversized asterisk, while the announcer utters “… and definitely no shortcuts.” Over the 30 seconds, there are shots of newspaper clips from Roger Maris’ 61st home run and more insinuations about doing things “the right way.”
This may have been the most passive-aggressive cheap shot around the baseball culture in a long time. For a sport that some say desperately needs to move forward, why agree to allow an ad that basically drags the game through its own soil for no reason to run during the attention spotlight portion of your season? Basically, everybody needs to move the fuck on and let things do the same. There are a lot better ways to frame and celebrate the meeting of the tradition of baseball and the “American Way” than to take backhanded shots at a handful of players who have been retired for a decade.
As for other events circling the globe today:
Andrew Wiggins’ shoe contract could be worth $140-180 million - CollegeBasketballTalk
John Fox: Jim Irsay 'ungrateful' - ESPN
Grizzlies owner Robert Pera challenges Michael Jordan to $1 million game of 1-on-1 for charity - Ball Don't Lie
Dwight Howard on leaving Lakers: 'I had to do what was best for Dwight' - Orlando Sentinel
Don Mattingly on 'double standard' - ESPN
Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith spends last football days in CFL, holding spot Tim Tebow doesn't want - Yahoo Sports
Brooklyn Nets mascot dunk goes wrong, lodges ball under shot clock - SB Nation
23 Times Ron Swanson Was Inarguably Right About The World - Buzzfeed